03/07/2019

Review: Parkland Speaks by Sarah Lerner

Featuring art and writing from the students of the Parkland tragedy, this is a raw look at the events of February 14, and a poignant representation of grief, healing, and hope. The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School share their emotional journeys that began on February 14, 2018, and continue today. This revealing and unfiltered look at teens living in the wake of tragedy is a poignant representation of grief, anger, determination, healing, and hope.The intimate collection includes poetry, eyewitness accounts, letters, speeches, journal entries, drawings, and photographs from the events of February 14 and its aftermath. Full of heartbreaking loss, a rally cry for change, and hope for a safe future, these artistic pieces will inspire readers to reflect on their own lives and the importance of valuing and protecting the ones you love.Kindle Edition, 192 pagesPublished January 22nd 2019 by Crown Books for Young ReadersSource: Library

Five stars: A must read! This is an emotional, powerful and moving book about grief, loss, heartbreak, hope and healing.

February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School started out ordinary. The halls were bursting with balloons, stuffed animals, hearts and Valentines. Then during the final period of the day, tragedy struck when a former student opened fire in the Freshman building. Seventeen people lost their lives that day to another senseless act of gun violence. For three hours, students and teachers cowered in classrooms, texting, praying and wondering if they would be next. That day marked the end of innocence and safety. The survivors hugged, cried and wondered how they had been spared, while some their friends and teachers had not. How do you move forward after gun violence shatters your life?

This is a book I urge everyone to read. This little book is a compilation of essays on survival, poetry, photos and real life accounts of what happened that day. It is an emotional and moving read. It made me sad, angry and hopeful. This is such a powerful read. I cried throughout as I read it.

I loved that this book incorporated so many different formats. I loved the unique voices and reading how differently everyone coped with the tragedy. This book put faces and voices to the victims of gun violence.

What struck me the most as I read this book was how desensitized we have become to school shootings. Back in 1999, I was in my mid twenties graduated from college two years prior, when the first mass shooting occurred at Columbine. I was glued to the coverage, horrified at what had happened. Twenty years later, I can only name two other schools were school shootings have occurred: Sandy Hook Elementary and now Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Yet, in twenty years there have been countless shootings to the point where they are commonplace. When is it going to stop? As the students stated in the book, “When are people going to stop sending thoughts and prayers instead of doing something?” I am terrified at the thought of my kids one day being a victim of a school shooting. I applaud these kids and their teachers for fighting for change and not letting up. I only hope that this next generation will succeed where other generations have failed. I am in awe of these brave kids!

One of the most chilling accounts comes from one of the teachers who came face to face with the gunman as she shoved as many students to safety as she could. She then locked the door and remained huddled with her students for three hours as they listened to the gunman and the cries of the wounded and dying. If this doesn’t get to you, I don’t know what will! I was also impressed at another teacher who threw herself over the students reassuring them that the gunman would have to go through her first. Wow!

The book isn’t all sad, there are parts where students recount their experience of going back to school as they tried to move forward and heal. Several spoke of the therapy dogs that were all over the campus for the students for the rest of the year. These dogs brought smiles and comfort to the students as they tried to forget the violence and terror. The dogs made an enormous difference. One girl even certified her own dog to be a therapy dog.

This book brought forth such an array of emotion for me as I read. I had tears in my eyes throughout. I was shocked, horrified, sad and then impressed, hopeful and filled with love for the teachers and students of this horrendous tragedy. I think this is an important book for everyone as it a startling reality of the gun violence epidemic that is rampant in the U.S. I hope that people will read this book and that it will inspire them to help these young people push for change. Read it!

And The Not So Much:

My only hesitation with this book is that it is not one I would recommend in ebook format. I read the Kindle version and there were several pieces that were almost impossible to read on the Kindle. The book utilizes photographs of the students actual written pieces. With the Kindle format, I wasn’t able to enlarge the pictures to read some of the writing. I found that if I fiddled with the lighting, I was eventually able to read almost all of the writings. If you are going to read this one, definitely grab a physical copy.

Parkland Speaks was an unforgettable read. This is a book that made me cry. It is sad, emotional, horrifying and yet so powerful. I hope that everyone will read this book and that it will be a conversation starter. I also hope that it will inspire change so hopefully this will not continue to happen again and again. A huge thanks to the students and teachers at MSD High for putting this out and making their voices heard, now let’s hope someone is listening!

I borrowed a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.

Comments

Review: Parkland Speaks by Sarah Lerner

Featuring art and writing from the students of the Parkland tragedy, this is a raw look at the events of February 14, and a poignant representation of grief, healing, and hope. The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School share their emotional journeys that began on February 14, 2018, and continue today. This revealing and unfiltered look at teens living in the wake of tragedy is a poignant representation of grief, anger, determination, healing, and hope.The intimate collection includes poetry, eyewitness accounts, letters, speeches, journal entries, drawings, and photographs from the events of February 14 and its aftermath. Full of heartbreaking loss, a rally cry for change, and hope for a safe future, these artistic pieces will inspire readers to reflect on their own lives and the importance of valuing and protecting the ones you love.Kindle Edition, 192 pagesPublished January 22nd 2019 by Crown Books for Young ReadersSource: Library

Five stars: A must read! This is an emotional, powerful and moving book about grief, loss, heartbreak, hope and healing.

February 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School started out ordinary. The halls were bursting with balloons, stuffed animals, hearts and Valentines. Then during the final period of the day, tragedy struck when a former student opened fire in the Freshman building. Seventeen people lost their lives that day to another senseless act of gun violence. For three hours, students and teachers cowered in classrooms, texting, praying and wondering if they would be next. That day marked the end of innocence and safety. The survivors hugged, cried and wondered how they had been spared, while some their friends and teachers had not. How do you move forward after gun violence shatters your life?

This is a book I urge everyone to read. This little book is a compilation of essays on survival, poetry, photos and real life accounts of what happened that day. It is an emotional and moving read. It made me sad, angry and hopeful. This is such a powerful read. I cried throughout as I read it.

I loved that this book incorporated so many different formats. I loved the unique voices and reading how differently everyone coped with the tragedy. This book put faces and voices to the victims of gun violence.

What struck me the most as I read this book was how desensitized we have become to school shootings. Back in 1999, I was in my mid twenties graduated from college two years prior, when the first mass shooting occurred at Columbine. I was glued to the coverage, horrified at what had happened. Twenty years later, I can only name two other schools were school shootings have occurred: Sandy Hook Elementary and now Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Yet, in twenty years there have been countless shootings to the point where they are commonplace. When is it going to stop? As the students stated in the book, “When are people going to stop sending thoughts and prayers instead of doing something?” I am terrified at the thought of my kids one day being a victim of a school shooting. I applaud these kids and their teachers for fighting for change and not letting up. I only hope that this next generation will succeed where other generations have failed. I am in awe of these brave kids!

One of the most chilling accounts comes from one of the teachers who came face to face with the gunman as she shoved as many students to safety as she could. She then locked the door and remained huddled with her students for three hours as they listened to the gunman and the cries of the wounded and dying. If this doesn’t get to you, I don’t know what will! I was also impressed at another teacher who threw herself over the students reassuring them that the gunman would have to go through her first. Wow!

The book isn’t all sad, there are parts where students recount their experience of going back to school as they tried to move forward and heal. Several spoke of the therapy dogs that were all over the campus for the students for the rest of the year. These dogs brought smiles and comfort to the students as they tried to forget the violence and terror. The dogs made an enormous difference. One girl even certified her own dog to be a therapy dog.

This book brought forth such an array of emotion for me as I read. I had tears in my eyes throughout. I was shocked, horrified, sad and then impressed, hopeful and filled with love for the teachers and students of this horrendous tragedy. I think this is an important book for everyone as it a startling reality of the gun violence epidemic that is rampant in the U.S. I hope that people will read this book and that it will inspire them to help these young people push for change. Read it!

And The Not So Much:

My only hesitation with this book is that it is not one I would recommend in ebook format. I read the Kindle version and there were several pieces that were almost impossible to read on the Kindle. The book utilizes photographs of the students actual written pieces. With the Kindle format, I wasn’t able to enlarge the pictures to read some of the writing. I found that if I fiddled with the lighting, I was eventually able to read almost all of the writings. If you are going to read this one, definitely grab a physical copy.

Parkland Speaks was an unforgettable read. This is a book that made me cry. It is sad, emotional, horrifying and yet so powerful. I hope that everyone will read this book and that it will be a conversation starter. I also hope that it will inspire change so hopefully this will not continue to happen again and again. A huge thanks to the students and teachers at MSD High for putting this out and making their voices heard, now let’s hope someone is listening!

I borrowed a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review.